Trends in the Supply of Pharmacists in North Carolina

“Trends in the Supply of Pharmacists in North Carolina” has been released by the North Carolina Health Professions Data System of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The new report describes the supply and distribution of pharmacists in the state through 2008. Summary findings include:
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North Carolina had 8,578 pharmacists in active practice in 2008.

North Carolina’s ratio of 9.3 pharmacists per 10,000 population exceeded the national average of 8.0 pharmacists per 10,000 population in 2008.

From 2003-2008, 69 counties gained pharmacists relative to population, 29 counties experienced a decline in pharmacists per population, and two counties, Hyde and Camden, had no active pharmacists in 2003 or 2008.

The majority (58.3%) of active pharmacists in the state graduated from a North Carolina pharmacy program (UNC Chapel Hill, Campbell, Wingate).

The report can be accessed in electronic form only here. County-level data for pharmacists, as well as other health professions, are available here. This work was supported by the North Carolina AHEC Program.